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10th May 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 15 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. EirCode: K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
We Need A Minister!
The election of a new Government last week has been greeted with great relief by the electorate, who have waited for more than two months, since polling day at the end of February.
By Patrick Finnegan A new cabinet was selected. with what many regard as a welcome vibrancy and freshness. However, one glaring omission from a North County viewpoint is the lack of our own Minister. When Dr James Reilly lost his seat at the general election and delicate talks progressing in the aftermath of the election, the thought of such a key constituency being left without a Government Minister was unthinkable. Dublin Fingal is the youngest, fastest growing constituency in the country, and the fact that it is not represented at the
cabinet table is a major blow to the was the selection of Balbriggan as a area. It is widely accepted that site for a new Primary Care Centre, constituencies without a Minister through the auspices of Dr Reilly, as don’t fare as well as those which do. Minister for Health. While this caused Dublin Fingal, or as it was previously a political storm at the time, a deterknown as Dublin North has a long and mined Reilly was undeterred and the proud tradition of providing top class primary care centre is now regarded government Ministers to successive Farrell TD as a vital project in the future of administrations. The names of John Balbriggan, and is welcomed by all. Boland, Nora Owen, Ray Burke, and most While is is too late to have a senior minister, recently, Dr James Reilly are synonymous prior to the next cabinet reshuffle, the hope with strong leadership and who made sure is that we will, at least be represented at that North County Dublin was well provided Junior Ministerial level. The hope is that the for when jobs and other benefits were being strong showing of Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell divvied out. It is generally accepted that may be enough to get him over the line as a constituencies that have a Government junior minister, particularly as he performed Minister will always fare better than those well on Dail committees recently. This would without one. The most recent case of this be a great boost for the region, and is the area benefiting from Ministerial presence least that our constituency deserves.
Ambitious Plans For Balbriggan Balbriggan Chamber of Commerce has an ambitious vision for the town, which is expected to drive growth, employ-
ment and prosperity, while enhancing the quality of life for its residents. The plan includes the future of the town
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from an industrial, social and tourism strategy point of view. They have submitted their plans to the County Council for input into the Development Plan. The County Leader spoke to Chamber CEO, Sean Corrigan in the Chamber’s newly revamped office on St George’s Square in Balbriggan, where he outlined some of their plans. “The most important thing is that we have been able to pull a significant body of local business people and residential community together in a meeting, which was called by the County Council about two weeks ago.” The local authority issued an invitation in all the local communities
for contributions to the Draft Development Plan. At that meeting, there was limited response from the business community. We formed the opinion that Balbriggan, as a community would not avail of the opportunity afforded by the local authority, which would be a lost opportunity. “It was then that we invited the Council to another meeting and the response was good. We had representatives from various groupings in the town, including sporting and cultural ones. A working group was set up to look at what would help to lift Balbriggan and how it could be included in the next plan (2017-2023). There is a
lot going on, including the new Primary Care Centre, new schools and progress on Bremore Castle. Perhaps the standout project envisaged by the Chamber is the development of Stephenstown Industrial Estate. Corrigan explained, “This is a major opportunity for Balbriggan, as there are not many towns that are sitting right at a junction on a major motorway. When you arrive at junction 6 particularly, there is land available for industry, and the importance of this is that Balbriggan welcomes industry and has the necessary land available. Other towns in the North County don’t have these opportunities, where 200 acres are available on one site alone. About 30 acres of this site are both zoned
Skerries man and North County Leader Director, Seán Fitzmaurice celebrated his marriage to Puy Martinez in her hometown of Logroño in Northern Spain last week. The happy couple are pictured outside the church after the ceremony.
and services, meaning that they are ready to go. He continued, “With this in mind, a group has been formed including members of the County Council, the Chamber and representatives of some larger businesses, who are working on a Marketing Plan, which formed the basis of our own submission. Another inspiration for us was the local authority’s rebranding of the Dublin Enterprise Zone in Blanchardstown. That caused us to look at our own situation, Contd. on page 15